Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On January 25, 2013, Kmart Corporation (“Kmart”) agreed to a $3 million settlement stemming from allegations that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) when using background checks to make employment decisions. The FCRA addresses adverse actions taken against consumers based on information in consumer reports and includes numerous requirements relating to the use of such reports in the employment context.

On January 28, 2013, the London office of Hunton & Williams marked European Data Privacy Day with the launch of the fourth edition of Data Protection Law & Practice, written by Senior Attorney Rosemary Jay. A panel comprised of the current UK Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham; his three predecessors, Eric Howe CBE, Elizabeth France CBE and Richard Thomas CBE; and the UK Minister of State for Justice, Lord McNally, spoke at the event and provided a retrospective on data protection in the United Kingdom since the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (“ICO’s”) inception in 1984.

On February 1, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission issued a new report entitled Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency. The report makes recommendations “for the major participants in the mobile ecosystem as they work to improve mobile privacy disclosures,” offering specific recommendations for mobile platforms, app developers, advertising networks and other third parties operating in this space. The FTC’s report also makes mention of the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s efforts to engage in a multistakeholder process to develop an industry code of conduct for mobile apps.

On February 1, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Chairman Jon Leibowitz will step down from his role on February 15, 2013. Leibowitz, who has been with the Commission since 2004 and was appointed Chairman in 2009, leaves the agency with a much more aggressive privacy agenda than the one he inherited, having helped to shape “groundbreaking work on consumer protection and competition issues.” During what may be his final press conference as Chairman, Leibowitz announced a new staff report on mobile app privacy disclosures and an enforcement action against the operator of a social networking app stemming from allegedly deceptive information collection practices that violated Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

On January 22, 2013, the Article 29 Working Party released Opinion 01/2013 (the “Opinion”) on the implementing acts contained in the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”).

Following up on the UK Information Commissioner’s Office’s (“ICO’s”) positive reaction to the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”), the ICO has now published additional thoughts on the European Commission’s proposed revised data protection framework, reacting to the recent draft report prepared by the rapporteur to the EU Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Jan Philipp Albrecht. In February 2012, the ICO released an initial analysis of the Commission’s package of proposals, which included the proposed Police and Criminal Justice Data Protection Directive (“Proposed Directive”).

On January 11, 2013, the UK Government published its response (the “Response”) to the UK Justice Select Committee’s opinion on the European Commission’s proposed revised data protection framework. The Response highlights a number of concerns expressed by the UK Government regarding the Commission’s legislative proposals.

On January 28, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement agreement with CBR Systems, Inc. (“CBR”), an operator of a cord blood bank, which collects personal information about consumers and physicians through its websites and in connection with the provision of its services, including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and health information.

On January 28, 2013, European Data Privacy Day, the London office of Hunton & Williams hosted the launch of senior attorney Rosemary Jay’s fourth edition book, Data Protection Law & Practice, by publisher Sweet & Maxwell.

On January 23, 2012, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”) released proposed guidance, Social Media: Consumer Compliance Risk Management Guidance (the “Guidance”) to address how federal consumer protection laws may apply to the social media activities of financial institutions that are supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Comments on the guidance must be submitted within 60 days (before March 25, 2013). After consideration of the public comments, and once the guidance is finalized, financial institutions will be expected to “use the guidance in their efforts to ensure that their risk management practices adequately address the consumer compliance and legal risks, as well as related risks, such as reputation and operational risks, raised by activities conducted via social media.” Rather than imposing additional obligations on financial institutions, the Guidance is intended to help financial institutions comply with existing federal requirements as they apply to the use of social media platforms.